One good thing about mid-term elections is that they give voters a chance to learn about new candidates without the distraction of the wild presidential race.

One excellent potential elected official emerged from this season, and she is worth watching in the future.

Her name is Eunice Garbutt, and she took on the entrenched Alan Hays of Umatilla for the State Senate District 20 seat. That took some courage. Hays, who has been a state representative since 2004, out-fundraised Garbutt by 40-to-1 — $400,000 to $10,000.

As if that sort of cash really was necessary in a year when Republicans surfed atop the take-back tsunami to victory. Of course, the Groveland resident lost.

Garbutt, 38, is a well-spoken and well-informed woman who has spent her career working for nonprofit organizations. She was born and raised in Orlando and moved to Lake County seven years ago. She's a program director for Special Olympics Florida, so she has a keen sense of what life is like for handicapped folks and their families.

What prompted Garbutt to take on Hays was his voting record. She said she didn't see the veteran House member question much.

"He just voted along party lines, without any disagreement," Garbutt said. She prefers a more thoughtful approach to governance.

Unfortunately, she is branded with that dreaded "D" for Democrat, which is so fatal for Lake County candidates, regardless of their stand on issues. Far too many people here vote blindly along party lines without investigating what a candidate believes and without considering whether it meshes with their own views.

Perhaps Garbutt should consider a run for Lake County School Board, which is nonpartisan. Those races force the voter to do a little more work, and that's good. Voting is too serious a responsibility to trust to party labels.

Hospital district mystery

There's a mystery involving the choice of three new trustees for the county's hospital district.

There was one issue and one only in this race, but there were six candidates. The candidates made it as easy as possible for voters. They conveniently divided themselves into two groups.

Three of the candidates — Walt Dobruck, Frances Grossi and Richard Riker — ran on a platform of eliminating the hospital tax, which raises about $12 million a year that is dumped directly into the coffers of the hospitals.

The other three — Bob Bone, Greg Beliveau and Jerry Brown — campaigned together to keep imposing the tax, telling voters it's necessary to provide high-quality health care in Lake.

Voters picked two from the pro-tax group — Bone and Brown — and one from the anti-tax group, Grossi. What was that about? Since there were no other issues in the race, it seems a testament to how easily voters become confused when there isn't a party label on the candidate.

Labels still guide voters

If you think voters as a whole are guided by issues rather than party labels, think again. The vote in the Lake County Water Authority race will prove you wrong.

Three candidates sought one seat — a Republican, a Democrat and a no-party candidate. The Democrat campaigned, while the other two did not.

The Democrat lost. Since the other two contenders didn't show up at candidate forums, send mailers or buy ads, voters could not possibly have a glimmer of what the candidates considered as issues and where they stood.

Yet the vote was down party lines — 60 percent for the person with an R by her name; 34 percent for the D and 6 percent for the no-party candidate.

It's a sad day when an entire campaign strategy is based on the notion that voters won't bother to check.

A bright spot in Leesburg

Leesburg voters provided at least one bright spot in the elections. They chose incumbent Bill Polk as their next city commissioner over two other contenders, Trueman "Jay" Hurley and Johnny Chassie.

Hurley unfortunately forced the race to become a relatively big-money affair when he accepted help from powerful police and fire unions across the state. C'mon. As if the police in Broward County really care about Leesburg.

What they do care about is pensions for public-safety workers, and that issue is due to come up shortly before the City Commission. The unions funded more than half of Hurley's unsuccessful campaign.

Think your vote doesn't matter?

How many times does it have to happen before voters realize how critical each of their ballots is?

Remember the 2009 Mount Dora City Council election in which a single vote separated incumbent Jim Yatsuk and his challenger? After a recount, the challenger, Tom Eppich, was declared the winner by two votes. (Yatsuk won a seat back again on Tuesday night.)

A similar situation arose Tuesday when Jon Hall, a newcomer to politics, took a seat on the Howey-in-the-Hills Town Council from an incumbent in a three-way race.

Hall, a Tavares police officer, charmed voters by his boyish sincerity and enthusiasm for the town where he grew up.

The margin? Nine votes.

Yes, dear voter, you count. Very much. Keep that in mind for next time.

Lauren Ritchie can be reached at Lritchie@orlandosentinel.com You may leave her a message at 352-742-5918. Her blog is online at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/laurenonlake.